NOTE: I read this at my pre-Oscar party and although it is pretty out of date by now, I thought you might enjoy reading it.

At one time the 2011 Oscar race was extremely exciting and incredibly close. But once “The Artist” became popular it seemed as if nothing could stop it. The film started out at Cannes and then got picked up by The Weinstein Co. As of now with only one day till Hollywood’s biggest night it’s biggest competitor seems to be another movie about movies: “Hugo,” Martin Scorsese’s big-budget-based on a book, family friendly 3-D epic drama, which with 11 total nominations is the most nominated film of the year.

“The Descendants” and “The Help” are the other two most likely competitors. Why? Because “The Descendants” has been nominated for Best Director, Adapted Screenplay, and Leading Actor. “The Help,” meanwhile swept the SAGs and has a lot of overall acting sweep.

I think “The Artist” will beat “Midnight in Paris” for Best Original Screenplay and that “Hugo” will definitely beat “The Descendants” and “Moneyball” for Best Adapted Screenplay. Martin Scorsese (for “Hugo”) will definitely but still surprisingly beat Michael Hazanavicius (for “The Artist”).

Here are three fun facts about the three possible winners:

1. If “The Artist” wins Best Picture it will be the first silent film to win since “Wings” in 1927 at the first Oscars.

2. If Viola Davis wins Best Actress for “The Help,” she’ll be the first Rhode Islander to win an Oscar because she grew up in Central Falls.

3. If 82-year-old Christopher Plummer wins Best Supporting Actor for “Beginners” he’ll be the oldest actor to ever win an Oscar. The second oldest would be 79-year-old Jessica Tandy for “Driving Miss Daisy”.

Finally, here’s the order of my least favorite to most favorite of the Best Picture nominees. (By the way the only one I haven’t seen is “The Descendants.”)

8. Midnight in Paris

7. The Artist

6. The Tree of Live

5. Moneyball

4. Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

3. Hugo

2. The Help

1. War Horse

Here’s the order of what I think will win, from most likely to win to least likely to win.

9. Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

8. The Tree of Life

7. War Horse

6. Moneyball

5. Midnight in Paris

4. The Descendants

3. The Help

2. Hugo

1. The Artist

And now we must wait till Hollywood’s biggest night. When Billy Crystal makes jokes and Martin Scorsese wins Best Director against Michael Hazanavicius, and The Artist beats Hugo for the big prize Best Picture.